Reports Place Cadillac ATS Wagon As Cancelled, Coupe On Backburner

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As we gave a watch to Motor Trend’s inaugural Wide Open Throttle news video hosted by the lovely Jenni Lang, our ears absorbed some tragic news that we certainly hope is not true. According to Motor Trend intel, the Cadillac ATS Wagon has joined the ATS Convertible in the forsaken realm of cancelled projects. What’s worse is that the future of the ATS Coupe is even in jeopardy, as insiders claimed the variant has been “delayed.” At one point, the ATS was slated to offer sedan, coupe, wagon and convertible variants.

Why the sudden change in course? Apparently “New GM” is pulling an “Old GM” move, sacrificing future products for gains in its balance sheet, and thus hopefully gains in its stock trading price. The reason for this is that the Treasury wants to sell its ownership of the company just as much as everybody else wants it to, but doesn’t seem to be up for it with the stock price being what it is. Roughly a year ago, GM was trading at nearly $40 a share, now it’s closer to $20 a share. You can watch Motor Trend’s WOT video just below.

coupe and convertable are not dead, the wagon most likely will not appear, the wagon is being adjusted to a smaler suv midsize on the ATS chassis. this is in reaction to the public mostly press wanting a rear wheel drive midsize suv not the current fwd srx so this will be at the update of the srx in a few years, I hope the press likes what will be coming, but as said before the press puts on way to many demands of GM even though the srx is the best selling product in its segment. now you know some of the info but much more is yet to find out….

jd, that’s what I hoped to hear. It would be foolish to cancel such variety. But wagons sell. Maybe not in America, but globally, they will sell big. Hopefully corporate has not written off the ATS Wagon for the rest of the world, it would be a shot in the sales foot. But why kill an American ATS Wagon to green light a crossover? They should both be green lit, as they seem to serve different demographics. The current SRX may be a hot seller, but doesn’t a lot have to do with design? It looks great. If the old rwd SRX looked as good, maybe it would have done better. A midsize FWD crossover seems to befit Buick better, anyways.

Like Alex and I have been saying for the past 2 years, play Buick upmarket with Cadillac and flank the entire luxury segment from two fronts — sport luxury and soft/contemporary luxury. The marketing is already there. Buick doesn’t need to be Cadillac’s “little brother” anymore. Hopefully this will happen.

Wagons and hatches would sell well in the U.S. if they were done well. I see plenty on the roads, but they are mostly foreign brands. Wagons and hatches appeal to people who are practical – those who want utility, storage, and fuel economy. Americans gravitate toward SUVs (which are heavier and less aerodynamic) because they ride high and tend to be slightly higher in volume. This will change as living standards decline and fuel becomes a higher percentage of the family budget. I’d like to see GM ahead of the curve, but I don’t think they will be. I see a company that would much rather produce big SUVs, trucks, and sedans, with just a few exceptions that cater to the sport-minded.

I fear GM is using the Sonic as a test case, but they will not get good data. Now that I’ve seen it in person, the Sonic does not look good, and this coming from one who loves hatchbacks. It’s chopped off too much at the rear wheels, which hurts both the look and the car’s aerodynamics. With the 1.4T GM could have sized the Sonic closer to the C-class and given it more slope to the roof and curvature to the lift gate. I think the Mazda 3 hatch and new hybrids from Toyota and now Honda (which are also, in effect, hatchbacks) are going to hurt Sonic and Cruze sales. It’s sad that the only hybrid entry from GM (the Volt) is priced over 40 K$. Unless one is an environmental fanatic, those who spend that kind of money could indeed consider Cadillac. But then these are also folks who can afford the size and operating cost of a large SUV, so why a hatch or wagon? GM should have focused wagon/hatch production much like Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford, etc. in the mainstream C-class.

I’m not worried. The truth is that Cadillac can’t really do what BMW can do yet. They don’t have the market share WORLDWIDE to match BMW model for model. So they have to choose wisely. that said, if they are to push into the overseas markets properly, some models will have to be built. Wagons, diesels, and convertibles do sell well in Europe. If I was head of GM, what would I be thinking? Make money in the US and then use those profits to push overseas? Or do I take a risk and build everything, hoping that all and sundry will come? Decisions, decisions…

Ok now that the cat is out of the bag on the ATS I am going to ask this again haha. Do you all think Holden is going to move the Commodore to the Alpha platform? Or keep it on Zeta a Full-Size Platform and introduce a new Mid-Size model on the Alpha? Looking on their site today I do not see a Mid-Size car. Thanks